12 Years 6 Months: Macau Jails First Defendant Under National Security Law for Subversion
November 6, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Au Kam San, 69, received 12 years and 6 months in Macau's first national security prosecution, convicted of subversion for distributing political information and co-organising Tiananmen vigils. No violence was alleged.
Twelve years and six months. That is the sentence a Macau court handed to Au Kam San, 69, on November 6, in the territory's first prosecution under its national security law. The charge: "subversion against the political power of the state." The evidence: collecting, preparing and distributing information that prosecutors described, in a court statement cited by Hong Kong Free Press, as "manifestly filled with political claims of a subversive nature."
No act of violence was alleged. The case rested on Au's contacts with what the court called "external hostile organisations" and on his collecting, preparing and disseminating information that prosecutors described as subversive in nature, according to BBC and Hong Kong Free Press. Au had also spent decades co-organising annual vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Macau authorities banned those vigils in 2021, the Straits Times reported, citing the risk of "inciting subversion."
The court set Au's possible sentencing range at between 11 years and 3 months and 19 years and 6 months, broadcaster TDM reported, as cited by Free Malaysia Today. It settled on 12 years and 6 months, finding that "the degree of intent was extremely high, and both the unlawfulness of the conduct and the potential consequences are exceptionally grave." Au was acquitted on two of the seven charges for insufficient evidence, BBC reported.
Macau's national security law took effect in 2009, criminalising treason, secession and subversion. A 2023 revision extended its reach to cover non-violent acts of secession, BBC reported. A further revision passed this year allowed trials behind closed doors, a provision applied in full here. Au's three-day trial in September was heard without public access. Only a handful of local media were admitted to the sentencing, with officials citing limited seating, Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Au was not permitted to choose his own lawyer. The court appointed one instead, according to BBC. His daughter Cherry, quoted by the organisation Justice Abroad in a statement cited by Hong Kong Free Press, said the family had been unable to communicate with him for nearly a year after his arrest in July 2025. His wife Virginia Cheang called the proceedings a "political trial" and "baseless persecution that tramples on a person's dignity" in an open letter published on sentencing day.
Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad and a London barrister who describes himself as Au's international counsel, called the proceeding a "sham trial" that places Macau "in line with the most repressive states around the world, where the executive has the power to imprison those with whom it disagrees, with no semblance of a proper, fair legal process," Hong Kong Free Press reported. Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Maya Wang said the sentence "sends a chilling message to all peaceful critics in the territory."
Macau's government welcomed the verdict, pledging to "ensure the steady and long-term implementation of the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle with Macao characteristics," according to a government statement cited by Hong Kong Free Press. That principle was the assurance given when Macau reverted to Chinese rule in 1999, ending more than 400 years of Portuguese administration, BBC reported. The European Union had condemned Au's arrest last year, citing concerns about the "erosion of political pluralism" in Macau, Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Au served five terms in Macau's legislature between 2001 and 2021, the Straits Times reported, as one of a small number of pro-democracy lawmakers in a body dominated by pro-Beijing members. The day before his sentencing, Hong Kong's Joshua Wong received an additional 10 years in jail under that territory's national security law, BBC reported. Two territories. Two sentences. One pattern.
Published November 6, 2026 · Frisian News